When the military hammer can't find a nail

From Reuters:


U.S. Aircraft Reportedly Kills 40 Iraqis

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. aircraft fired on a house in the desert near the Syrian border Wednesday, and Iraqi officials said more than 40 people were killed, including children. The U.S. military said the target was a suspected safehouse for foreign fighters from Syria, but Iraqis said a helicopter had attacked a wedding party.

I would like to return to the notion that we are beyond the limits of a military solution in Iraq. I have heard many of the blowhard politicians and pundits this week continue to half-justify American abuses at Abu Ghraib by pointing to Nick Berg and the mutilation of four American contractors in Falluja. Invariably, the word "terrorist" is mentioned. Invariably, the diatribe ends with an exhortation to "stay the course," and that the actions "of a few bad apples" cannot be allowed to "sully the reputation of the peerless American military."

What is not mentioned is the price our military inflicts on the Iraqis. For the mutilated bodies of four contractors we laid siege to Falluja and killed over 700 civilians. Today, if true, we have attacked a wedding party and killed 40 civilians. In fact, Iraq Body Count puts the toll somewhere between 8,000 and 11,000 dead civilians as a result of our year there.

At some point we have to start asking ourselves how we look to the to the mothers and fathers and kids we are attempting to rule. We canot expect them to love us as we kill them. June 30 looms.